George Des wrote:
I installed the new FW gauge panel I received from A&A Marine. Removing the old panel on my 99 FW 245 Sundowner was pretty easy. Four plastic wingnuts hold the panel from behind. Once these are removed and the 24 space AMP harness connector is unplugged, the panel comes out from behind. The woodgrain trim surround pops right out. The new panel is installed by first drilling two small pilot holes through the top of the new panel. Locations for these holes are pre-located in the new panel. Once this is done, the panel is inserted into the dash opening and adjusted so that it fits evenly. A drill is used to put two holes in the top inside of the dash binnacle that coincide with the two pre-drilled pilot holes in the trim surround. After fastening the new panel, the 24 pin AMP connector is mated to the boat wiring harness removed during removal of the old gauges. That’s it! All guages came to life as soon as the engine was started up.
That's great. amazing that there is no wiring to do except for connect the harness.
I had my boat out this weekend, and the VDO cluster was working good. I only heard the low pressure alarm a couple times for 3-5 seconds on a couple of startups... and my mechanical guage in the engine compartment always shows the oil pressure jumping right up to proper pressure. I'll do the A&A kit when my VDO finally gives out, but at 19+ years it's still going strong (mostly).
LouC that top end rebuild looks great!
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"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings